Press "Enter" to skip to content

Briefs from Svalbardposten for the week of Dec. 11, 2018

0 0
Read Time:1 Minute, 32 Second

Svalbardbutikken prices 25 percent to 40 percent higher than mainland grocers
Grocery prices at Longyearbyen’s only grocery store are far higher than six supermarkets on the mainland, according to a comparison of nearly 90 products. Prices for the items at Svalbardbutikken were slightly more than 3,900 kroner, compared to 2,705 kroner at Coop Xtra, the cheapest mainland store surveyed. The most expensive mainland store was Spar, where the items cost 3,145 kroner. Among the biggest price differences for individual items were cauliflower (46.90 kroner per kilo at Svalbardbutikken vs. 12.90 kroner per kilo on the mainland), cottage cheese (49.80 kroner vs. 24.90 kroner), plus chicken fillets and various cold cuts. Only four items were cheaper at Svalbardbutikken than at a mainland store. While Svalbardbutikken does not have to pay the value-added tax imposed on mainland merchants, the high cost of shipping goods to Svalbard exceeds that amount and is largely responsible for the higher local prices, said Ronny Strømnes, the store’s manager. In particular, fresh items such as vegetables that must be shipped frequently by air are costly.

Boathouse owners fined 52,000 kroner for illegal occupants
Three owners of boathouses at Sjøområdet have been fined a total of 52,000 kroner for allowing people to illegal live in them, according to city officials. An inspection of the area by the fire department in October revealed six people living in boathouses, which have lower safety requirements than residential properties. The occupants were forced to immediately abandon the buildings. Owners Kai Edgar Trædal and Carl Martin A. Schönning were each subsequently fined 20,000 kroner, and Trude Mørkved and Birgit Gregussen were fined 12,000 kroner. Efforts by the city to empty boathouses of occupants began in 2013, but only minimal inspection and enforcement has occurred until this fall’s action.

 

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
Happy
Happy
0 %
Sad
Sad
0 %
Excited
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
Angry
0 %
Surprise
Surprise
0 %

Average Rating

5 Star
0%
4 Star
0%
3 Star
0%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%